Five figure settlement obtained after negligent cataract surgery led to vision loss

Amanda Cavanagh, a medical negligence specialist at Ashtons Legal, has obtained a five figure settlement for Mr S, a man who lost the majority of vision in his left eye as a result of failures made by a Norfolk hospital over a three year period.

Mr S had been experiencing reduced vision in his left eye and attended the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kings Lynn to undergo cataract surgery. Several mistakes were made during this operation, including the incorrect placement of the artificial lens in his eye.

Throughout the years following his surgery Mr S attended multiple consultations at the hospital as he continued to experience pain and loss of vision in his left eye. He eventually requested a second opinion and that was when the incorrect siting of the lens and the infection that this had caused (uveitis glaucoma hyphaema syndrome) were diagnosed and treatment commenced.

As a result of the negligent operation and the significant delays in treatment Mr S is now only able to discern light vaguely in a narrow, limited part of his peripheral visual field in his left eye. The level of vision is of no useful benefit to him other than to discern light and dark. He is unable to see shapes, shadows and hand movements.

The prognosis for the vision in his left eye is extremely poor. There is no treatment available to correct his vision and it will never improve by itself. There also remains a risk that should the pressure rise significantly in his left eye in the future, the remaining vision could rapidly be irreversibly extinguished and Mr S could be rendered blind.

Amanda Cavanagh comments: “My client was left distraught by the treatment he received at the Queen Elizabeth Kings Lynn Hospital. He was very angry and upset that he complained on several occasions but felt he was ignored. He suffered from low confidence when driving and his pleasure at making keepsakes for the family was lost as a result of the damage to his sight.   He trusted the hospital to firstly carry out the operation to an acceptable standard, but more importantly in the event of an error, to at identify and treat that error. The damages will not bring back my client’s very poor eyesight in his left eye, but will give him some access to aids and equipment to assist him in developing new past times and hobbies to enjoy as much as he possibly can.”

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